The translatability of Korean dramas
I thought that "A Touch of Translation" by Samuel Weber was very applicable to Kim Hyun Mee's "Korean TV Dramas in Taiwan" and the idea of Korean dramas in general. Weber focused on how the goal of translation is meaning that transcends place, media, and language. But, something is always lost in translation because of the transformation in meaning that occurs because of movement and the shift in place. Because of this, some works are more "translatable" than others. Kim Hyun Mee talked about how Korean dramas became popular in Taiwan partly because they underwent a localization process. For example, the Korean background music in dramas was exchanged for Taiwanese pop songs and dialogue was dubbed and even intentionally changed. So, Korean dramas were not strictly translated on a very basic level. Still, they were able to become successful in Taiwan because they were translatable in Taiwanese contemporary culture on a deeper level. The Korean Wave that Korean dramas are a part of allows Asian audiences to participate in a culture that is an alternative to Western culture. Korean dramas are based on Confucian values that allow for "cultural proximity" (Kim 187). At the same time, while Korean dramas may not have been created to show "woman-centrism," that is how they have been translated to a Taiwanese audience, resonating with the daily experiences of Taiwanese people.
This idea of translatability also may account for the pockets of popularity that Korean dramas experience in the U.S. For the most part, it seems that Korean dramas are most popular in communities of Asian immigrants and their children. These dramas allow audiences perhaps to vicariously experience what they think life is like in Korea. At the same time, they are a more "wholesome" alternative to sex-filled, violent American media. In the following articles, it seems that this is part of the reason why even non-Asian Americans are feeling the Korean Wave.
"Korean Wave Washes over USA"
"Addicted to Love"
"South Korea Soap Operas Find Large Audiences"
posted by So Jin @ 4:35 PM
2 Comments:
I certainly think that translated work fails to espouse the authenticity of the original work. When I read the part where the voice actors dubbing over these dramas are often pressured to record at a short amount of time so they do not translate accurately. Even when the lines and dialogues are translated "accurately," I still think it doesn't do justice to the original work. In my other class, I'm reading stories by Russian authors and we often get into this problem of "translation" and how you cannot appreciate the real author's style of writing from translated versions of their work. It would be ideal to know every language, but that's just not practical. I guess we just have to do the best we can so that the visible "gap" in the vase can be minimized.
Yeah, I thought it was interesting that some producers sell Korean dramas to other countries without the sound. It'd be interesting to see how different the same drama ends up being once it's been translated to a new language.
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